Mass. budget accord reached, sources say

Thursday

Jun 30, 2011 at 1:27 PMJun 30, 2011 at 1:28 PM

With fiscal 2012 hours away, House and Senate negotiators have reached agreement on a spending plan for the new fiscal year, according to three sources familiar with the budget talks, which have been led by Rep. Brian Dempsey and Sen. Stephen Brewer.

Michael Norton and Matt MurphySTATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

BOSTON - With fiscal 2012 hours away, House and Senate negotiators have reached agreement on a spending plan for the new fiscal year, according to three sources familiar with the budget talks, which have been led by Rep. Brian Dempsey and Sen. Stephen Brewer.

The budget, which could be ratified by the House and Senate on Friday, is expected to include local aid cuts, efforts to significantly slow growth in spending on health care and insurance, and a controversial overhaul of municipal health insurance rules governing cost-sharing by employees.

According to one source, Ways and Means staff remained at the State House until 4 a.m. to draft the language of the budget after an agreement in principle was reached between the two branches Wednesday.

The conference committee aims to file the final bill with the House clerk by 8 p.m. tonight in anticipation of bringing the budget to the floor of the House and Senate for final approval Friday.

A top aide to House Speaker Robert DeLeo advised House members to be ready for a 10 a.m. caucus Friday and a formal session at 11 a.m. According to an email sent Thursday morning from DeLeo chief of staff James Eisenberg to House members and staff, the plans are "pending" a report from the six-member budget conference committee.

The budget accord, according to one source, will have to be vetted by House and Senate counsel in the Committees on Bills in Third Reading before being filed.

Conference committee reports, which reconcile differences between the branches on approved bills dealing with the same topic, are not subject to amendment and are typically approved in each branch.

Gov. Deval Patrick indicated Thursday morning he was not looking forward to filing a second interim budget to give legislative leaders more time to reach agreement on a spending bill that is expected to weigh in at around $30.5 billion.

"I'm disappointed it's not going to be done in time for the new fiscal year and I'm not looking forward to the prospect of a bunch of these interim budgets while they get their work done," said Patrick, who kicked off this year's budget debate by filing his spending plan in January. "They need to get their work done, and I hope they're going to do that right through every day from now until it's complete."

The House and Senate approved a $1.25 billion, 10-day budget on Monday that will carry state agencies beyond the July 1 start of the new fiscal year until a final budget is in place.

Patrick said he believed the House and Senate were "not dramatically off" on spending issues, but said there were reforms included in the budget that he knows are "difficult."

Though he said he did not know what sticking points remained in the negotiations, Patrick raised the issue of municipal health reform and negotiations over the extent of labor involvement in future negotiations over municipal health insurance premiums, benefit, copayments and deductibles.

Presented with the contention that House Speaker Robert DeLeo has taken a harder-line stance against unions than Senate President Therese Murray, Patrick disagreed. "I don't think that's a fair description. They both are about delivering those savings in substantial form this year, and that's really important," Patrick said, adding, "Nobody is quarrelling about the question about labor at the table. Nobody, including the Speaker. He's there. There question is the extent of that role."